Thursday, February 26, 2015

Are there extraterrestrials among us? There are sightings every day. And yet no official disclosure from the government. The problem is, even elected officials do not know. However some do, and they have actually have made public disclosures on this.

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

First, here is an interview from 2014 where Paul Hellyer, the former Defense Minister of Canada, reveals that not only are extraterrestrials here, but there are over 80 species of them, and some of them look human and can walk among us:

This is someone who has absolutely no reason to lie. He was a Defense Minister of one of the G8 nations. Why tarnish his legacy now and subject himself to ridicule? While he served the Canadian government a Canadian researcher Wilbur Smith began a government project called Project Magnet to prove the existence of UFOs. When his project successfully detected a UFO, the government promptly shutdown the project. Wilbur Smith made inquiries into what the U.S. Government knew, and wrote this in a letter:

I made discreet enquiries through the Canadian Embassystaff in Washington who were able to obtain for me the followinginformation:a. The matter is the most highly classified subject in the United States Government, rating higher even than the H-bomb. b. Flying saucers exist. c. Their modus operandi is unknown but concentrated effort is being made by a small group headed by Doctor Vannevar Bush. d. The entire matter is considered by the United States authorities to be of tremendous significance. I was further informed that the United States authorities are investigating along quite a number of lines which might possibly be related to the saucers such as mental phenomena and I gather that they are not doing too well since they indicated that if Canada is doing anything at all in geo-magnetics they would welcome a discussion with suitably accredited Canadians.

This was back in the 1950s, when there was a large influx of UFOs, apparently in response to our discovery of the atomic bomb. According to Paul Hellyer, they are again concerned we may yet still use the atomic bomb again in a future war. According to Paul Hellyer, the extraterrestrials think we are bad stewards of our planet, and waste so much effort in warfare, and that something bad will happen to the planet if we don't correct our course. Where do they come from? In addition to mentioning the Pleiades and Zeta Reticuli, Paul Hellyer straight out says some of them come within our own Solar System: specifically Venus, Mars, and one of the moons of Saturn which they call "Andromedia." But more on that later.

For those who want an official disclosure from the U.S. Government, in 2010 Henry W. McElroy, Jr, retiring State Representative to New Hampshire, stated that former U.S. President Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth. McElroy also said that the document he viewed while at the State Legislature made reference to the presence of extraterrestrials in the United States of America, and an opportunity for Eisenhower to meet the alien visitors:

Circumstantial evidence from various sources suggest that President Eisenhower did meet with extraterrestrials, and this took place in 1954 at Edwards Air Force Base in California. See The Presidents UFO Website: Dwight D. Eisenhower. Other sources state that there were meetings with two groups: one group of extraterrestrials offered spiritual knowledge if we gave up developing the atomic bomb as a weapon. This offer was rejected. Another group of extraterrestrials offered technology, in exchange for allowing them to do human genetic experimentation on our population. This offer was accepted.

At some point during his administration, President Eisenhower was afraid that the U.S. Government had lost control of the extraterrestrial situation, and that too much power was being concentrated in the U.S. military industrial complex. He was frustrated that a secret control group, MJ-12, were failing to report back to him. He then basically threatened the officials of Area 51 that he would raise the army and invade the facility if they did not cooperate. This story comes from a confession of a former military and CIA official that were sent to Area 51 by President Eisenhower to assess the situation in 1958. They were sent there to give them a personal message: either cooperate and report back, or he would raise the first army out of Colorado and overrun the base:

He states Project Blue Book was a fraud, designed to deceive the public. But they, as part of the CIA, got the real cases. They went to Area 51, and reported back to President Eisenhower. Area 51 possessed various flying saucers, one at least from the Roswell crash, and was working on extraterrestrial technology. The saucers were powered by a "reverse gravitation" of some kind. Not only that, but they also had a live extraterrestrial entity whom they were interrogating at the time. President Eisenhower, when he heard this, was shocked. He told them that none of this should be revealed ever to the public.

AREA 51 AND FLYING SAUCER RESEARCH

A former contractor at Area 51, Bob Lazar, came out in 1989 about how he briefly worked on reverse engineering flying saucers. Here is a brief documentary on his disclosure back then:

Here is a more recent interview from 2014, where he still holds to his story. Older and wiser, he regrets having told the public, and has since moved on:

Here is part 2 of the interview that did not make it on the news, where he reveals a bit more on some gravitational experiements: time slows down within a gravitational field, and with anti-gravitation, ships that travel in space have shielding from cosmic radiation:

Now if that were not enough, Boyd Bushman, who holds over 20 patents with Lockheed Martin, in 2014 gave an interview before he passed away in which he not only revealed that he worked on reverse engineering extraterrestrial flying saucers at Area 51, but stated that there were aliens present at the base. And he pulls up photographs showing saucers as well as aliens. They came from a star system 68 light years away, and would communicate telepathically, from which he states he had derived information for his patents. Here is a short summary of the interview:

The interesting thing here is he shows a saucer on the ground, and another of a saucer in flight. In flight, it generates a "corona discharge" around its hull, which is exactly what Bob Lazar had reported. Here is the full interview given before he died, but he had given earlier ones in which he had revealed he had worked on flying saucer technology:

These are separate witnesses of different backgrounds, some highly qualified individuals. There is no "hoax" here, this is not "psychological." They have no reason to lie. Nor did they all sit in a room all together, and decide to be quiet about it until right before they die. For example, Boyd Bushman worked for Lockheed Martin. Ben Rich, CEO of Lockheed Skunkworks, also came out and said that we have developed technology that allows us to reach the stars, we have the technology to bring ET home - which he also revealed before he died in 1995:

THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL HUMANS

Dmitry Medvedev, 10th Prime Minister of Russia, with Vladimir Putin

On this topic, I want to focus on one particular group of reported extraterrestrials: those that look human exactly like us. They could walk among us and we would not even know it. And this was confirmed accidentally by the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, in what was supposed to be "off the air" comments. From Russian PM not joking - extraterrestrials among us according to MIB documentary:

"Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s off-air comments that Russian Presidents are given a secret file about extraterrestrials living among us created much media interest. Most news reports claimed that Medvedev was simply joking. His apparent reference to the Men In Black movie as a source of information on a super secret agency that monitors extraterrestrials on Earth was commonly cited as key evidence that he was in fact joking. The reasoning is that no political leader would refer reporters to a comedy to clarify national policy. It has now emerged that Medvedev was not referring to the Men in Black comedy after all, but to a recent Russian television documentary titled “Men in Black” that reveals many details about an extensive cover up of extraterrestrial life visiting Earth."

The above is an example of how the media is used to distort the facts. At a Disclosure Project media event, Sergeant Clifford Stone testified that as of 1989 the U.S. military had catalogued about 57 extraterrestrial species that were visiting earth:

So who is Sergeant Clifford Stone? He claims to have been part of a unit in the U.S. army that was involved in UFO crash retrievals. From a young age, Sergeant Clifford Stone demonstrated some psychic abilities. He somehow caught the interest of the U.S. military, who needed people with that ability to communicate with extraterrestrials. For many of them can only communicate telepathically. After he left military service, he took what he knew and applied Freedom of Information Acts to have the government release information, on which he published a book, UFOs are Real. PDF Link to the entire book can be found here. Moreover, Sergeant Clifford Stone appeared in a Disney documentary on UFOs that was censored by the media, in which Disney CEO Michael Eisner appears to introduce the movie: see The Censored Disney Documentary on Extraterrestrials. So why would Disney put so much effort into a documentary, only to have is censored by the U.S. media? Its because certain agencies do not want the public to know.

So now we know who Sergeant Clifford Stone is. But how to verify such a claim? In the above clip, Sergeant Clifford Stone says the following about the human extraterrestrials:

"You have individuals that look very much like you and myself that can walk among us and you wouldn't even notice the difference. Except for some of the things -- they might be able to go ahead, even in a dark room, and touch an object, and go ahead and identify what color that object might be. They would have a heightened sense of smell, sight, hearing..."

Touching an object in the dark, and identifying its color? Perhaps some psychic ability, but does not seem believable. So when did Clifford Stone give this speech? The clip is actually from the National Press Club in Washington D.C., and it took place on May 9, 2001. See the following video link which begins where Sergeant Clifford Stone gives his testimony, but there are many other witnesses: 2001 National Press Club Event.

That was the year 2001, and soon after most would forget about it due to the events of September 11. However in 2009 a news report emerged in China of a young boy Nong Yousui with strangely blue eyes, who could see in the dark (see Does China's Cat-Eyed Boy Really Have Night Vision?). This was picked up in western media in the year 2012:

Notice, when the young boy comes out in the sunlight, he has to shield his eyes from the light. Medical experts state an examination is in order, but some suspect he has a rod-rich retina. Here is another case, of a blue eyed boy in Pakistan, who also can read in the dark - video was posted in 2012:

So what this points out here, is that the human extraterrestrials that Sergeant Clifford Stone encountered probably did not determine the color of an object in the dark by touching it, but rather they have rod-rich retinas that are sensitive to light and can see in darkness. Which means, they probably had blue eyes.

Now, wind back the clock to the early 1950s, where there were numerous UFO sightings and several UFO contactees. One of them was Howard Menger from New Jersey (see A Telepathic Dream of a Song from Saturn). He wrote an account of his encounters with human extraterrestrials in his book, From Outer Space to You, published in 1956. I skimmed through it, and found this interesting passage:

"The men, particularly the Venusians, had unusually fair skin, without hair on their arms or face, and had no need to shave. After three months on Earth, however, they became hairy and grew beards. Most of them waited the three month period so they would have beards to shave and appear more like earth people.Some of them requested dark glasses: a few asked for dark glasses with red glass, which was difficult to obtain. I don't know why they wanted dark glasses, for those I had met previously had not worn them.There were so many things to ask about I never remembered to inquire, though I presumed the glasses were used to acclimate their eyes to the glare of the sunlight here, which probably is more intense than the light on their planets."

So a likely explanation is that these human extraterrestrials have evolved and developed in such a way where they are acclimated more to darkness than our sunlight during the day (see The Extraterrestrial Christianity of UMMO, where the Ummites preferred to be active during our nights). That this is probably correct, is shown that after 3 months here on earth, these Venusian extraterrestrials started to grow body hair and needed to shave. This was the early 1950s. The likely explanation is that it is now known that exposure to sunlight produces Vitamin D in the body. One of the affects that Vitamin D has is that it helps hair growth, and it is still a current area of scientific study. Note that, it was not proven that Vitamin D is produced by exposure to sunlight until 1978. From History of the discovery of vitamin D and its active metabolites:

In 1935, 7-dehydrocholesterol was isolated by Windaus et al.30 and vitamin D3 was identified in 1937 by the Windaus and Bock.31 Vitamin D3 is the natural form of vitamin D formed in the skin as a result of UV irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol. This then raised the question of whether vitamin D is a true vitamin or whether it is normally produced in the skin and is not found in natural foods. Although it was surmised that vitamin D3 arises in skin via the irradiation of 7-dehydrocholesterol, this was not proven until 1978 when Esvelt et al.32 actually isolated and identified vitamin D3 by mass spectrometry. Before this, Holick et al.33 provided evidence that previtamin D3 is formed in the skin on UV irradiation.

Only recently has it been scientifically demonstrated that low levels of Vitamin D contribute to hair loss in women (see Eat This for Thicker Hair.) Research on this is still ongoing, evidence is mostly anecdotal. From Vitamin D and Hair:

"Many scientists and dermatologists believe that vitamin D can play a big role in preventing hair loss as well as fostering hair growth. Research shows that hair follicles contain vitamin D receptors that play an important role in the hair follicle cycle. This was first apparent during the studies of patients with a type of vitamin D dependent rickets who developed alopecia. The exact manner in which these vitamin D receptors function remains unknown, but studies in animals have found that consumption of vitamin D3 and its analogs can stimulate hair growth. These results have however, not been duplicated in human trials, but that may be because stronger analogs were used in the animal tests?.Anecdotal evidence does suggest that vitamin D can stimulate hair growth or even slow down hair loss. And while research in this regard does remain inconclusive, no one disputes the importance of vitamin D in maintaining hair health."

So, although one is very unlikely to meet an extraterrestrial, if you happen to be noticing too much hair on the drain after you take a shower you now know what to do about it.

Point is this was unknown in the 1950s at the time Howard Menger related his story concerning pale skinned Venusians. One of them who had attended one of his meetings in New Jersey would later make contact with a Christian minister, Frank Stranges. He told him that on Venus, they live underground, which could explain their sensitivity to light.

THE VISIONS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

One of the main reasons that the spiritual visions of Emanuel Swedenborg have been disregarded by many, is that in the 18th century he clairvoyantly made contact with extraterrestrials, who he said were from our solar system - including Venus, Mars and Saturn. And yet it is well documented that he had accurate clairvoyant visions (see The Confirmed Clairvoyance of Emanuel Swedenborg). Corroborating Swedenborg's experiences with extraterrestirals, as of 2014 we now have the former minister of Defense for Canada, Paul Hellyer, stating that there are extraterrestrials visiting us who are from Venus, Mars and a moon of Saturn. Most of these are inhospitable to life on the surface (the scientific view on Mars has changed dramatically in the last few years). The most likely explanation is that they are from an advanced race, living underground, and are thus sensitive to direct sunlight. As to their history, one contact explained they originated from the star system of Tau Ceti, and they have been here a long, long time (see Extraterrestrial Contact from Tau Ceti, Venus and Mars), and they know much more about our ancient history that has since been lost to us.

What is more important here, however, is that the existence of extraterrestrials was not the main point of the spiritual visions of Emanuel Swedenborg. The main point was that he was given a new revelation concerning Christianity and Jesus Christ, the reality of the afterlife, and proof of the Divine inspiration of many of the books of the Bible. He explains where the Catholic and Protestant churches have departed from the true message of Jesus, and corrects their theology. This is the main point here. Even in his reported contacts with extraterrestrials, the main points of the conversation with them were concerning their views of the one God. The visions are comprehensive and span over 27 years, and will answer just about every question one could have on spiritual matters. And in modern contacts, this is the main worry of certain extraterrestrials: we are developing too fast technologically, and are far behind in terms of ethics, spirituality, and applying the universal laws to our own lives.

Here is Eye in the Sky, by Alan Parsons Project, which is rather appropriate considering the subject:

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Is there such a thing as soul mates, a couple destined to be together for eternity? And how does one go about finding one's soul mate? In New Age thought, there is much discussion on soul mates, which are also commonly called "twin flames." There are many curious people who want to know who ask this question. And there are a lot of people who give very strange answers. I took a look at those who say they have the answer: one was a psychic, another an astrologer, another a channeler, and they all talk so certain on these matters. Yet when one closely examines their teachings, they are in reality guessing themselves, or basing it on their own intuitions. I was going to quote from them but their speeches quickly dive into the deep end, which is too bad, as some have interesting viewpoints.

So are there soul mates, or twin flames? The short answer is yes, there are true eternal soul mates. Despite what others may have said on this, this phrase "twin flame" is not completely accurate. More accurately, the male is the light of the flame of the female, and the female is the flame of the light of the male. They cannot exist without each other, but together they make one. Separate them, the flame will go out as if it had lost its oxygen. But together they will burn brightly if united in soul, mind and body.

As explained in The Divine Origin of Marriage Love and Sex, males are forms of intellect, and females are forms of volition or the will. Each individual person has these two aspects inside of them as the thought and the will. This two-fold division originates from the Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, the two primary aspects of God. Love seeks its truth and truth seeks its love, and together they make one in the act. This is the hidden spiritual origin of the love of the other sex, for sex is the physical manifestation of this spiritual reality.

ETERNAL CONJUNCTION OF SOUL MATES

The revelations given to Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century go much further than explaining the spiritual difference between the male and female, and provide a definite answer to the existence of eternal soul mates in heaven. The following points were given in these heavenly visions:

1. The soul is created upon conception. Memories of past lives originate from shared spiritual memory.2. Man has an internal body and an external body. The internal body lives after death.3. Each soul is born as male or female, and will remain male or female to eternity.4. Each individual person is highly valued, for each person is a microcosm of the universe, and God's plan is to have each person grow in happiness to eternity.

In his 27 years of visions of heaven and hell, Swedenborg saw many things concerning angels, and one of them was that the higher angels would choose a soul mate with whom they would dwell with to eternity. The male and female would become so closely conjoined, together they would form one angel, the male and female becoming the intellect and will of the angel respectively:

"Marriage in heaven is the conjunction of two into one mind. What this conjunction is shall be first explained. The mind consists of two parts, the one of which is called the understanding and the other the will. When these two parts make one, then they are called one mind. The husband then makes the part which is called the understanding, and the wife that which is called the will. When this conjunction, which is of the interiors, comes lower down into what is of their body, it is then perceived and felt as love, and this love is marriage love. From which it is plain that marriage love has its origin from the conjunction of two into one mind. This is called in heaven living together, and it is said that they are not two, but one, and so two consorts in heaven are not called two, but one angel." (Heaven and Hell, n. 367)

An angel of the third heaven told Swedenborg this:

"With us in the heavens, especially in the third heaven, our heavenly delights are chiefly from marriage love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 42)

Then, from Divine permission, Swedenborg was allowed to see a married angelic pair descend so that he could see them:

"And lo! a chariot then appeared descending from the highest or third heaven, in which an angel was seen; but as it approached two were seen in it. In the distance the chariot glittered like a diamond before my eyes. And young horses were harnessed to it, white as snow; and they who sat in the chariot held two turtle doves in their hands. ...And they said:—"We are a married pair. From the earliest age, called by you the golden age, we have lived happily in heaven; and always in the same flower of youth in which you see us today."
I observed them both attentively, for I perceived that they represented marriage love, in its life, and in its adornment; in its life in their faces, and in its adornment in their apparel. For all angels are affections of love in human form; their ruling affection itself shines forth from their faces. And from their affection and in harmony with it their garments are chosen. It is therefore said in heaven that his own affection clothes every one. The husband appeared to be at the age between manhood and youth. From his eyes beamed forth a light sparkling with the wisdom of love. His countenance was as if radiant from this light within, and by the irradiation from it the skin outwardly was as it were refulgent. Thence his whole face was one resplendent comeliness. He was clothed in a long robe that reached to the ankles, and under the robe a vestment of blue, and this was girded about with a golden girdle on which were three precious stones—two sapphires at the sides and in the middle a carbuncle. His stockings were of shining linen interwoven with threads of silver; and his shoes were entirely of silk. This was the representative form of marriage love with the husband.

And with the wife it was this:—I saw her face—and did not see it. I saw it as beauty itself, and did not see it because it was transcendent. For there was a splendour of flaming light in her countenance—such light as is with the angels of the third heaven—and it dimmed my sight, so that I was simply struck with amazement. Observing this she spoke to me saying:—
"What do you see?"
I answered:—"I see only marriage love and a form of it. But I see—and do not see."
At this she turned herself partly away from her husband, and then I could regard her more intently. Her eyes glistened with the light of their heaven—which as was said is flaming, and for the reason that it is derived from the love of wisdom. For in that heaven wives love their husbands from wisdom and in their wisdom; and husbands love their wives from and in that love towards themselves—and they are thus united. Hence her beauty!—which in its form was such as no painter could emulate and portray; for there is no such lustre in his colour, nor any such beauty expressible by his art. Her hair was gracefully arranged in correspondence with her beauty, and had flowers inserted in it like a coronet. She wore a necklace of carbuncles, and pendent from this a rosary of chrysolites; and she had bracelets of pearls. She was arrayed in a flowing robe of scarlet, and under this had a waistcoat of purple, clasped in front with rubies. But, which was a marvel to me, the colours varied according to her aspect towards her husband, and according to this they were now more now less brilliant—more when they were mutually turned towards each other, and less when they were partly turned from each other." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 42)

And this is why it is more accurate to speak of a twin pair of flame and light, rather than twin flames, for the woman is the fire of love of wisdom in the man, and the man is the light of the woman's love. After marriage, this becomes inverted, internally man grows in his love, and the woman internally in her truth, for they each draw from the other part into each other.

HOW TO FIND OR RECOGNIZE A SOUL MATE?

First, it should be known that the Divine Love and Divine Wisdom flows into everything. There can be no love without its truth, and no truth without its love. They will always work together to become one:

"Every affection has its mate as a partner; an affection of natural love has knowledge, an affection of spiritual love has intelligence, and an affection of heavenly love, wisdom; for affection without its mate as a partner is not any thing; for it is as esse [to be] without existere [to exist] and as substance without form, of which nothing can be predicated. Hence, within every created thing there is something which may be referred to the marriage of good and truth." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Providence, n. 42)

Every form of love and truth has its own specific partner:

"There is no love without its partner, which is knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. The partner of natural love is knowledge, of spiritual love is intelligence, and of celestial love is wisdom." (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 351)

As this law is universal, as a corollary one can conclude that married pairs will be born who are destined to eventually find each other, for those who desire it. And if one does not find it while on earth, one will find one in heaven. The following passage I found very interesting, as Swedenborg talks about this very briefly:

"That for those who desire true marriage love the Lord provides similitudes; and if they are not given on earth He provides them in the heavens.—The reason is that all marriages of true marriage love are provided by the Lord. ...And how they are provided in the heavens I have heard described by the angels, thus:—That the Divine Providence of the Lord concerning marriages and in marriages is most particular and most universal; because all the delights of heaven stream forth from the delights of marriage love, as sweet waters from the flow of a fountain. And therefore it is provided that marriage pairs be born, and that they be educated for their marriages immediately under the Lord's auspices—the boy and the girl not knowing it. And after the requisite time, she, the marriageable virgin, and he, the youth then ripe for marriage, somewhere meet as if by chance, see each other, and then instantly, as from a certain instinct, they know that they are mates, and as if from a kind of inward dictate they think within them, the youth, "She is mine," and the virgin, "He is mine." And after this thought has been seated for some time in the mind of each they deliberately speak, and betroth themselves. It is said, as if by chance, instinct, and dictate, though the meaning is, of the Divine Providence—because so long as it is unknown it thus appears; for the Lord opens their internal similitudes so that they may see each other." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 229)

So finding a soul mate will happen as if by chance, but there is no such thing as chance. What we now call as "chance" or "accident" or "luck" all have a single cause, and that is Divine providence. Randomness is a modern invention to those who wish to have a world without a purpose. That it will seem to happen by chance, is shown from scripture when Abraham commanded his servant to find a wife for his son, and the servant finds Rebekah in a different land as if by chance.

From experience, those who have found their soul mate know immediately know within, and they will recognize each other by their face. One sign of a soul mate, is that the love will continually grow:

"With those who are in true marriage love the happiness of dwelling together increases; but with those who are not in marriage love it decreases.—The reason why the happiness of dwelling together increases with those who are in true marriage love is that they love each other mutually with every sense." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 213)

And by grow, by that I mean they accept each other for who they are and not be judgmental, and on the other side of the coin, they learn to accept their faults and not deny them. For none of us are angels, we are in an eternal journey to become one. It is an angelic characteristic to see what is good in the other person:

"Those who are in charity scarcely see another's evil, but observe all that is good and true in him, and put a good interpretation on what is evil and false. Of such disposition are all angels, which they have from the Lord, Who bends all evil to good." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1079)

Friday, February 13, 2015

Here is an interesting question: if single cell organisms can multiply by dividing, what is the origin of love and sexual reproduction? Why did life evolve into more complex life forms, and why does life evolve into male and female forms? The current scientific theories are problematic. It puzzles scientists as sexual reproduction is described as "costly" compared to asexual reproduction. They also do not know why sexual mating is "binary" and evolves into male and female forms. Also it is not clear which came first: the male and female form, or the two forms of the gametes (the male sperm and the female egg).

These questions come from those who seek naturalistic explanations. Is there a spiritual explanation, and what is the morality behind it? Here I thought I would cover the answers to these questions as shown in spiritual visions to Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century, which were all guided by scripture. Instead of looking down at nature as the source for answers, lets look at higher level spiritual truths.

GOD IS LIFE ITSELF

The first point to note, is that the universe was not created from nothing. Before the material world was created, there was a spiritual world which resides outside of space and time. In the heavenly spiritual world, God is seen by angels and spirits as the central light of heaven, which varies according to one's state of love - the light can appear as a Sun, or a moon, or as a tiny star - or not at all for those who choose to turn away and dwell in darkness. The more one loves others, the brighter this central light appears. In the 18th century, Swedenborg stated that whereas all material things originate from the "natural" Sun that appears before our eyes, life originates from the spiritual Sun at the center of heaven:

"In heaven the sun of the world does not appear, nor anything from that sun, because it is all natural. Nature in fact has its beginning from this sun, and whatever is produced by means of it is called natural. But what is spiritual, in which heaven is, is above nature and wholly distinct from what is natural; nor do the two communicate except by correspondences." (Heaven and Hell, n. 116)

By correspondence here Swedenborg means what we now call symbolism: all of nature is actually symbolic of higher level realities in the spiritual world. In the 18th century Swedenborg states that all things of nature originate from the natural Sun; from science today we now know that it is highly likely that all things of the universe originated from the "sun" of the Big Bang explosion.

It is from the spiritual Sun, that life flows into nature, and gives life to all living things:

"The truth is that the life of every one, both of man, and of spirit, and also of angel, flows in only from the Lord, Who is life itself, and diffuses itself through the whole heaven and also through hell, thus into every one, and this in an order, and series incomprehensible; but the life which flows in is received by each one according to his disposition. Good and truth are received as good and truth by the good; but good and truth are received as evil and falsity by the evil, and are also turned into evil and falsity in them. ...That I might know that influx was of such a nature, it has been given me to speak with the spirits and angels who were with me, and also to feel and perceive their influx; and this so often that I cannot number the times. But I know that the fallacy will prevail, namely, that men will believe that they will from themselves, and think from themselves, and thus have life from themselves; whereas nothing is farther from the truth." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2888).

And in life, it is inescapable, we all must make a choice:

We, as life forms, are not life itself, but recipients of life:

"Man however is not Life, but a recipient of life, as has also been shown before; and when Life flows into a recipient of life, there is conjunction; for it is adapted to the recipient as the active to the passive, or as what is in itself alive to what is in itself dead, which thence lives. The principal and the instrumental, as they are termed, appear indeed to be conjoined as if they were one, but still they are not one; for the one is by itself, and the other is by itself; man does not live from himself, but the Lord out of mercy adjoins man to Himself and so makes him to live forever; and because they are thus distinct, it is called conjunction." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2021)

This teaching is actually confirmed in the gospel of John:

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Moreover, Jesus Christ was different: he was not a recipient of life, but the source of life clothed in human form:

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself (John 5:26)

And thus Jesus also said "I am the way, the truth and the life." And this was confirmed in the visions that Swedenborg received concerning Jesus. The word "conjunction" is used to describe the relationship between God and creations who are recipients of life. However with Jesus, the term "union" is used to describe the "union" between the Divine and human essence:

"That a more distinct idea may be had of the union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence, and of the Lord's conjunction with the human race by the faith of charity, it may be well here and in what follows to call the former union, but the latter conjunction. There was union of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence; but there is conjunction of the Lord with the human race, through the faith of charity; as is evident from this, that Jehovah or the Lord is Life, Whose Human Essence also was made Life, as shown above, and there is union of Life with Life." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2021)

The Son is the human form that was made Divine upon the resurrection. It is not a separate distinct person "born from eternity" as conceived by the former Christian churches. The Son is the image of the unseen God, and that which provides form is a property of Divine Truth (also known as the "Word"). This is one of the hidden reasons why Jehovah became incarnate in the male form and not the female form, of which see below.

GOD IS LOVE AND TRUTH ITSELF

In the highest abstract sense, where we abstract ourselves from space and time, God is Love itself, and Truth itself. And this is one of the greatest insights of the revelations given to Swedenborg, for all of scripture which is Divinely inspired ultimately relate to love and truth. For example, the phrase In him was life; and the life was the light of men - life is related to one's love, for one lives from one's love, and light is related to truth. Moreover, all things that exist in fact come into being from a marriage or union of love and truth:

"If you gather together all things that you are acquainted with, and consider them attentively, and if in some elevation of spirit you search for the universal of them all, you cannot conclude otherwise than that it is Love and Wisdom. For these two are the essentials of all things of man's life; everything civil, moral, or spiritual belonging to it depends upon these two, and without them is not anything. It is the same with all things of the life of the composite man, which is, as said above, society in a larger or smaller form, a kingdom or empire, the Church, and also the angelic heaven. Take away love and wisdom from these, and think whether they are anything, and you will find that without love and wisdom as their source they are nothing.
"No one can deny that in God is Love, together with Wisdom, in their very essence; for He loves all from Love in Himself, and He leads all from Wisdom in Himself. The created universe also, regarded from order, is so full of wisdom from love, that you would say that all things collectively are that wisdom itself; for indefinite things are in such order, successively and simultaneously, that taken together they form a one. It is from this, and this alone, that they can be held together and preserved forever." (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 28-29)

Religions that emphasize faith or belief alone, or just enlightenment or meditation, are not complete. For truth only lives when one applies it to one's life, and it is applied by willing and doing. If a religion does not address the problem of evil inherent in our will, it is solving nothing. Any thought that is not applied to life, becomes nothing. For what survives to eternity is what is inscribed on the heart or will in how one lived.

GOD IS WHAT IS MAN, OR WHAT IS HUMANITY

This is an important point: most modern religions think of God as an abstract energy or force without form. Look at the ancient religions, and God had human form, and as such are described as "anthropomorphic" - in other words, most think the ancients projected our image onto God. However the opposite is true - God projected and is projecting his image on us. The ultimate Divine, is something so beyond us we cannot conceive of it. However, when the Divine progresses from the infinite and eternal into our space and time, it is seen as a Divine Human in the spiritual world. Why is this? It is because the human form is the ultimate and most useful form - it is the form that results from the union of love and truth, expressed in will and thought. As Divine Love and Truth descends into matter, it seeks to express itself in the human form. Divine Love is expressed in our will, and Divine Truth is expressed in our thought. The union of love and truth - or one's intent with one's thought - leads to action, or usefulness. And the most useful form is the human form.

It is knowing God in human form that we can focus our thought. For a thought cannot be focused on anything that has no shape or form. Love and truth manifests itself mostly in the human will and thought:

"It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that man has two faculties of life, from one of which he has understanding, and from the other he has will. The faculty from which he has understanding derives all it has from the influx of wisdom from God, and the faculty from which he has will derives all it has from the influx of love from God. That a man is not justly wise, and does not love justly, does not take away the faculties, but only shuts them up; and so long as it shuts them up, the understanding indeed is called understanding, and the will is called will, yet essentially they are not so. If, therefore, these faculties were taken away, all that is human would perish — which is to think, and to speak from thought, and to will, and to act from will. From this it is plain that the Divine in man resides in these two faculties, which are the faculty of being wise, and the faculty of loving; that is, in the ability." (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 30)

It is said that God created man in his likeness and in his image. The truth is, we become God's image inasmuch as we are in God's love and truth. As love and truth finds its most useful form in the human form, it is for this reason that life itself will always tend to evolve to the human form where conditions allow it (see Swedenborg on the Divine Order of Human Evolution).

That God is very Man, is well known among the angels in the higher heavens:

"In all the heavens there is no other idea of God, than the idea of a man; the reason is that heaven as a whole, and in every part, is in form like a man, and the Divine which is in the angels constitutes heaven; and thought proceeds according to the form of heaven; therefore it is impossible for the angels to think of God otherwise. For the same reason all in the world who are conjoined with heaven, think in a like manner of God when they think interiorly in themselves, that is, in their spirit. Because God is a Man, all angels and all spirits are perfectly men in form. The form of heaven effects this, which in its greatest and in its least things is like itself." (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 11)

It is this which allowed God to become incarnate in human form, when mankind on this planet had become so separated from heaven. All of heaven, when seen as a whole, in fact makes up a human form, which Swedenborg saw repeatedly in his visions. This is described in more detail in his massive work, Heavenly Arcana.

THE MALE IS INTELLECTUAL, THE FEMALE IS VOLITIONAL

There is a well known book Men are From Mars, and Women are From Venus. The book became well known because it pointed out something that no one seemed to notice before: men and women really are different. Not just on a physical level, but on a mental level as well, and it attempts to point this out in solving relationship problems.

However, the book does not answer the question, why are men and women different? And this Swedenborg answered over 200 years earlier: as the Divine love and wisdom seeks to express itself in human form, in the will and thought, it will further seek to express itself in the male and female form. The male form tends to be intellectual while the female will tend to be volitional:

"It flows from this primitive formation that the male is born intellectual and the female volitional; or what is the same, that the male is born into an affection for knowing, understanding, and acquiring wisdom, and the female into the love of conjoining herself with that affection in the male. And because the interiors form the exteriors to their likeness, and the masculine form is a form of understanding, and the feminine form is a form of love of that understanding, from this it comes that the male has a different face, a different voice, and a different body from the female; that is, a sterner face, a harsher voice, and a stronger body, and withal a bearded chin—in general, a form less beautiful than the female. They differ also in bearing and in manners. In a word, nothing whatever is alike in them; and yet in every least thing there is what is conjunctive." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 33)

In typical conversations, one can recognize the difference: men want to reach a logical conclusion to end or solve the conversation, whereas women will have a tendency to repeat to express their feelings, or to focus on something that needs or should be done. For the female mind is volitional, the male mind is analytical.

From the Divine, love seeks to be conjoined with truth and vice versa, and when love and truth become one they produce what is useful. Stated in another way, when one's love or intent is guided by thought, it produces an effect in action. In the natural world this manifests as the desire for the male and female to become one, which produces offspring.

THE LOVE OF SEX, AND LOVE OF ONE OF THE SEX

The Divine flows into all life forms, and the spiritual union of love and truth manifests in its natural form as the love of sex. While humans share the love of sex with animals, true marriage love is the love of one of the sex:

"The love of sex and marriage love are spoken of [distinctively] because the love of sex is different from marriage love. The love of sex pertains to the natural man; marriage love, to the spiritual. The natural man loves and desires only external conjunctions, and the pleasures of the body from them; the spiritual man loves and desires internal conjunction, and the states of happiness of the spirit therefrom. And he perceives that these are given with one wife, with whom he can be perpetually more and more conjoined in one. And the more he is thus conjoined the more he perceives his states of happiness ascending, in like degree, and continuing to eternity." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 38)

Love, at its beginning, can be just for the love of sex. But as it grows, more and more it becomes the love of one of the sex, and becomes a conjunction between two minds.

THE SPIRITUAL ORIGIN OF MARRIAGE LOVE AND SEX

The spiritual origin of this desire comes from the marriage of love and truth that emanates from the Divine, for love always seeks its truth, and truth its love:

"There are internal and external origins of marriage love; and the internal are many. The external likewise are many. But the inmost or universal origin of all is one. ...this is the marriage of good and truth,,, there is not a good without truth, nor a truth without good; consequently, that there is an eternal marriage between them; and that this marriage is the origin of marriage love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 83)

And later:

"...from the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the lord, there is the love of sex, and there is marriage love. ...good and truth are the universal of creation, and hence are in all created subjects; that they are in them according to the form of each; and that good and truth proceed from the Lord not as two, but as one. It follows from this that a Universal Marriage Sphere proceeds from the Lord, and pervades the universe from first things to last,—thus from angels even to worms. The reason why such a sphere of the marriage of good and truth goes forth from the Lord is that it is the sphere also of propagation, that is of prolification and fructification; and this is the same as the Divine providence for the conservation of the universe by successive generations. Now, as this universal sphere—which is of the marriage of good and truth—flows into subjects according to the form of each, it follows that the male receives it according to his form, that is in the understanding, because he is an intellectual form; and that the female receives it according to her form, thus in the will, because she is a volitional form from the intellectual of the man. And as this same sphere is the sphere of prolification, it follows that from this comes the love of sex." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 92)

The conjunction between male and female is not only physical, but mental and spiritual:

"That the will of the wife conjoins itself with the understanding of the man; and thence the understanding of the man, with the will of the wife.—The reason is that the male is born to become understanding and the female to become will loving the understanding of the male. Whence it follows that marriage conjunction is a joining of the will of the wife with the understanding of the man, and reciprocally, of the understanding of the man with the will of the wife. Everyone sees that there is the closest conjunction of the understanding and the will; and that it is such that the one faculty can enter into the other and take delight from and in the conjunction." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 183)

As marriage love is spiritual in origin, one can gauge one's spirituality by how much one values marriage. Thus Swedenborg saw that in ancient times, when there was more direct contact with heaven, they had their highest delight in marriage love with their partner. However this successively degenerated in successive ages, with marriage love becoming less the more one withdrew from one's spirituality: for the two are intimately linked to one another. In the end, Swedenborg's angelic guide on this matter expressed hope that true marriage love would be revived again among couples on earth:

"And yet I am fed with the hope that this love will be revived again by the God of heaven, who is the Lord; for it can be revived." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 78)

One other revelation was given: when true soul mates find each other, their love lasts forever, even to eternity in the afterlife, where the male and female form become united as one angel.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Our spiritual journey in life is like climbing a mountain: each step we take we gain a better understanding of the truth as we practice the truth in our lives. Those who know the truth, but do not practice it in their life, are those who are at the bottom staring at the mountain. But those who practice the truth are those who ascend the mountain.

The steps or degrees of one's spiritual advancement occur in several stages:

1. Knowledge of the truth.2. Willing or doing according to the truth.3. Affection for the truth, doing from the love for the truth.4. Love of the will, from which all truth is known.

These stages of spiritual development are universal, and are described in a variety of ways in a symbolic manner in scripture, one of them by successive births of a generation. Swedenborg comments on this when describing the spiritual significance of Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, the four sons of Leah by Jacob:

"Reuben signifies the truth which is the first thing of regeneration, or new birth; this is only as to knowledge, or as to knowing truth. Simeon signifies the truth which is the second thing of regeneration, or new birth; this truth is as to the will, or as to willing truth. Levi signifies the truth which is the third thing of regeneration, or new birth; this truth is as to affection, or being affected with truth, which is the same thing as charity. But Judah signifies good, which is the fourth thing of regeneration, or new birth, and this is the celestial of love. When the regenerate man, or he who is born anew, arrives at this stage, the Lord appears to him, for he has then ascended from the lowest step, as by a ladder, up to the step where the Lord is.

This also is the ascent which was signified by the ladder seen by Jacob in the dream, which stood upon the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and on which the angels of God ascended and descended, and above which stood Jehovah or the Lord... by conceiving and bearing, four times mentioned, is signified advancement from external to internal, or from truth to good, that is, from earth to heaven... Descent follows afterward, for man cannot descend unless he has first ascended. Descent is nothing else than looking at truth from good, as a man from a mountain, upon which he has climbed, views the things which lie beneath. That then he can comprehend in one view innumerable things more than they who stand beneath or in the valley, is manifest to every one. The case is exactly similar with those who are in good, that is, in love to the Lord and in charity toward the neighbor, compared with those who are only in truth, that is, in faith alone." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3882.1-2)

Note that I have not said which truth by one ascends toward the Divine. That is because love in its nature is one, and many are the truths which lead to it. Religion by itself does not save a person, but only a life according to one's religion. Thus those who know nothing of a religion, and yet live a good life according to their conscience and the truth that they know, have a better capacity of reaching eternal life with the Divine than those who know and yet do not practice it:

"Good indeed in its essence is simply one, but it receives its quality from the truths implanted in it, and thereby becomes various. The truths which appear as truths to the Gentiles, are in general that they should worship some God, from whom they seek their good, and to whom they attribute it, and so long as they live in the world, they do not know that this God is the Lord; also that they should adore their God under images, which they account holy; besides many other things. Nevertheless, these things are no hindrance to their being saved equally with Christians, provided they live in love to their God, and in love toward the neighbor; for thus they have the faculty of receiving interior truths in the other life" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3778)

For God, in his true essence, is Love itself, and those who practice love towards other are not only happy in this life, but will be happy for eternity. When one understands and then does this, one then reaches the top of the mountain.